1. How does the NIH determine the sex/gender of applicants for NIH research grants?

The NIH collects information on sex/gender using the Personal Data Page of the
PHS 398 Grant Application form (see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/personal.doc -
MS Word - 46 KB) . Completion is voluntary. This page is removed and separately
recorded after the application is received. The information is used and protected
by the Privacy Act as described on the page itself.

3. Has the participation of women in NIH research grant programs changed in recent years?

Looking at all NIH research grants, over the period from 1994 to 2004 the participation of women has increased. In 1994, 20% of the awards and 17% of the awarded dollars went to female Principal Investigators. In 2004, 25% of the awards and 21% of the awarded dollars went to female Principal Investigators.

NIH Research Grant Awards* to Men and Women, FY 1994 - 2004

All Awards

Awards to Women

Awards to Men

FY

Number

Amount

Number

Amount

Number

Amount

1994

30,368

$ 7,644,968,658

6,122

$ 1,297,856,900

23,006

$ 6,091,623,155

1995

29,950

$ 7,926,030,175

6,334

$ 1,398,236,338

22,719

$ 6,315,806,355

1996

30,541

$ 8,388,105,242

6,616

$ 1,527,245,559

23,061

$ 6,635,041,494

1997

32,095

$ 9,039,127,181

6,998

$ 1,641,431,230

24,165

$ 7,149,416,257

1998

33,328

$ 9,667,285,731

7,384

$ 1,786,802,478

24,907

$ 7,529,455,514

1999

35,871

$ 11,228,936,365

8,054

$ 2,155,834,240

26,787

$ 8,720,521,558

2000

38,299

$ 13,001,726,060

8,711

$ 2,548,955,592

28,330

$ 10,009,858,346

2001

40,661

$ 14,906,436,960

9,385

$ 2,936,923,173

29,899

$ 11,435,353,116

2002

43,514

$ 16,828,253,981

10,193

$ 3,363,563,108

31,799

$ 12,838,202,639

2003

46,085

$ 18,831,680,613

11,082

$ 3,797,405,788

33,425

$ 14,389,702,559

2004

47,459

$ 19,606,032,092

11,680

$ 4,057,356,318

34,190

$ 14,867,218,441

* Competing and Non-Competing

From Success Rate File, CGAF 2004 and IMPAC-II as of September 21, 2005
Program: srf_gender_050921_rfm

4. Has the size of research grants changed for men and women and how do they compare?

For all research grants, the average size has increased 1.6 fold from $251,744 to $413,115 over the period from 1994 to 2004. Research grants to women have remained at about 80% of the size of research grants to men.

5. Does the difference in the average size of grants persist across all budget categories?

No. In fact, the average size of grants varies considerably across budget category and the differences in the size of grants to women and men vary, as well. Looking at fiscal 2004, the biggest differences in the average award are for centers where women serve as PIs on grants that are on average only 60% as large as those for men. The average size of SBIR/STTR awards for women exceeds that of men. And the average Research Project Grant award (RPG) or Career Development Award for women is about 90% of the size for men. It should be pointed out that the RPG category constitutes 79% of extramural awards and 75% of the extramural dollars.

NIH Research Grants by Budget Category, FY 2004

All Awards

Awards to Women

Awards to Men

Budget Category

Number

Amount

Number

Amount

Number

Amount

RPG

37,396

$14,671,548,833

8,936

$3,253,009,927

27,481

$11,001,652,688

SBIR/STTR

2,200

$613,236,443

384

$107,834,887

1,638

$451,322,600

Centers

1,383

$2,612,807,505

221

$268,033,546

1,097

$2,218,004,884

Career

4,137

$598,477,912

1,490

$203,759,659

2,379

$356,817,718

Other

2,343

$1,109,961,399

649

$224,718,299

1,595

$839,420,551

Total

47,459

$19,606,032,092

11,680

$4,057,356,318

34,190

$14,867,218,441

(Other includes all S, R, P, and U awards not included in Research Projects, SBIR’s, or Research Centers.)

Average NIH Research Grant Award to Men and Women by Budget Category, FY 1994 - 2004

6. How has the participation rate for women changed over time across these budget categories?

The participation of women has grown in all budget categories. Over the period from 1983 to 2004, the share of grants going to women has increased from 13% to 24% for RPGs, 13% to 19% for SBIR/STTR grants, 4% to 17% for centers, and 17% to 39% for Career awards.

Yes. On R01 grants, the participation rate for women is higher within the younger age groups. In FY 2004, 29 percent of the 36 to 40 year old recipients were women while only 16 percent of the 66 to 70 year old recipients were women.

12. How do participation rates for women in NIH grant programs compare to their representation in relevant faculty positions?

The AAMC collects detailed data on faculty in medical school departments. Some of this faculty is involved in research and others are more involved in medical education. Nonetheless, this pool of individuals comprises a substantial portion of the applicants for NIH grants. In calendar 2004, the AAMC reported that 72% of the faculty in Basic Science departments was male and 28% were female. In Clinical Science departments 68% of the faculty was male and 32% were female. Information is available in Table 14 at http://www.aamc.org/data/facultyroster/usmsf04/start.htm.

13. Over time have the participation rates increased for women in NIH institutional research training programs?

Yes. The participation rate for women in the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award institutional research training grant program (T32, T34) has increased from 47 percent of the predoctoral positions and 38 percent of the postdoctoral positions in FY1990 to 55 percent of the predoctoral positions and 49 percent of the postdoctoral positions by FY 2004.

14. Over time have the participation rates increased for women in NIH career development Programs?

Yes, for mentored awards. The participation rate for women in mentored NIH Career Development Awards (K01, K08, and K23 awards) has increased from 24 percent in FY1990 to 42 percent in FY 2004. The participation rate for women in more senior, independent Career Development Awards (K02 and K24) has been nearly constant over this time period at about 32 percent.

15. Over time have the participation rates increased for women in NIH fellowship programs?

No. The participation rate for women in the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award individual fellowship award program has remained fairly constant since 1990. Women comprised between 41 and 46 percent of the postdoctoral fellowship (F32) recipients between FY 1990 and FY 2004. The share of predoctoral fellowships (F30, F31)going to women has declined from 73 percent in FY 1990 to 59 percent in FY 2004.

16. How many women have tenure in the NIH Intramural Research Program?

Women participate in the NIH Intramural Research at rates comparable to the extramural environment. Women are close to parity with Men in clinical positions and at the graduate and postdoctoral levels but they participate at lower rates at the more senior investigator levels as shown in the table below.

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